1 dead, several injured after driver, 90, hits pedestrians in Japan

YOKOHAMA: One woman died and several others were injured after a car driven by a 90-year-old woman hit four pedestrians at an intersection in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on May 28, police said.

An initial police report said the woman drove out of a parking lot next to a national road in the city and made a left turn, then hit four people walking across a pedestrian crossing. Her vehicle is then believed to have veered onto the sidewalk. Two people who felt ill after witnessing the accident were also taken to a hospital, it was reported.

A 68-year-old man living in the area described the scene.

“I heard the loud sound of a collision. The car had gone up onto the sidewalk, and several people were collapsed nearby along with a fallen bicycle,” he said.

Police are investigating the case under the Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, etc. on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death and injury.